


Sleepless Nights

by katie_049



Series: Nights (Season 16) [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Post Episode: s16e 10 What Child Is This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 22:57:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18486163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katie_049/pseuds/katie_049
Summary: “You’re getting really good at this,” her partner’s rough voice startled her from beside her and she turned her head to throw him a quick glance. He looked just as tired as she felt.“Well, you refuse to do it, so I get a lot of practice,” she huffed.Post 16x10





	Sleepless Nights

**Author's Note:**

> I know the episode aired ages ago, but better late than never.  
> This is just a little something that crossed my mind after watching the episode. No one will ever tell me that they slept on that couch without at least holding hands or something. 
> 
> This is my first time writing Ellie and Nick, so be gentle.

The faint fussing from the crib woke Ellie up and she lifted her head from the back of the couch. She had fallen asleep, sitting up. Her eyes burned as she opened them, one hand going up to rub the remains of sleep away.  The baby’s fussing turned into soft cries and Ellie groaned, focusing on the crib and getting up.

Glancing at her sleeping partner next to her, she grabbed the blanket that had just covered her, throwing it over him. He was also still sitting and maybe she should try to get him to lay down too, once the baby was sleeping again. Her neck felt stiff already and his probably wasn’t any better.

She crossed the small distance between the couch and the crib, looking at the baby boy that was swaddled in his blue blanket. “Hey there, little one,” she whispered, a hand reaching out to lay on top of his belly. “You can’t be hungry again. We just fed you.”

The baby kept fussing, his nose wrinkling and he looked like he was about to start wailing much louder at any second. The young agent quickly reached for him, taking him into her arms and holding him close.

“Shh, don’t cry, sweets,” she hushed him, walking over to the fireplace and away from her sleeping partner. “We don’t wanna wake up Nick. You wore him down a few hours ago.”

The young child looked up to her with his blue eyes wide open as he squirmed in her arms. He didn’t seem tired at all. Switching him onto her left arm, she patted his bottom, checking his diaper. It felt big and squashy and she gently smiled.

“We need to change your diaper, huh?” She asked him, walking back over to the couch, laying the baby down on it and kneeling down in front of him. She reached for the go-bag that was standing beside the couch.

“Alright, let's put the mat under you, we don’t wanna have any accidents on Gibbs’ couch, right?” She told the baby as she put the dark grey mat under the baby’s bottom. “Let’s see what you’ve got, little man.” She freed the baby from his blanket and opened his onesie.

He started to wail again, louder this time.

“Hush, sweets, you gotta be patient with me,” she tried to reason with him as she unfastened his diaper. “I’ll be done in a second and then I’ll bundle you up again.”

“You’re getting really good at this,” her partner’s rough voice startled her from beside her and she turned her head to throw him a quick glance. He looked just as tired as she felt.

“Well, you refuse to do it, so I get a lot of practice,” she huffed as she switched the old diaper against a new one, quickly fastening the straps and turning her attention back onto the baby in front of her. “See, all done, little one.”

Buttoning the onesie again, she wrapped the blanket back around his small body, picking him up again and walking over to the fireplace. She shivered as the last remaining heat from the burnt down fire reached her skin. Maybe they should have taken the spare bedroom after all.

“How long has he been awake?” Nick asked, getting up and walking over to them. A second later he wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, tugging it between her arms. His hands lingered on her arms and she shivered again as the heat that radiated from his body mixed with hers, warming her from behind. He was standing with his chest against her back, so close that she could feel his breath on her neck.

“Just a few minutes, I guess he was just uncomfortable,” she explained as the baby settled down in her arms, still wide awake though.

“He doesn’t look like he wants to go back to sleep anytime soon,” Nick pointed out, reaching around her to tap the baby’s nose. “Hey, little guy, it’s night time. You gotta stay asleep a little longer.”

As he leaned over her shoulder, Nick moved impossibly closer to her, his cheek almost brushing against hers. It would be so easy to just lean back into him and get lost in his warmth, but Ellie took a deep breath, grounding herself on the spot. There was a thin line between them, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to cross it just yet.

She also wasn’t sure if he was doing it on purpose or if he just didn’t realize that he was more than a little in her personal space. He didn’t seem as much affected by it as she did and when he moved away, she couldn’t help but try to follow the warmth and comfort of his body. It made her stumble, but his hands on her arms steadied her.

“You ok, B?” He asked, his voice laced with something that sounded a lot like concern to her.

She shook her head, clearing her mind. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

He didn’t reply, instead he moved away from her, grabbing two more logs and laying them onto the glowing ashes of the fireplace, before coming back to stand in front of her.

“Here, let me take him for a while, you’re exhausted,” Nick told her as he reached for the baby in her arms.

“Nah, it’s ok, I’m sure he’s going back to sleep in a second,” Ellie assured him, bouncing the baby from side to side.

“Ellie, come on. I can take over,” Nick urged her, laying a hand on her shoulder as he moved closer to her again. “Please go and lay down. You had a long day.”

She stopped her bouncing, leveling the other agent with a pointed look. “My day was just as long as yours, Nick.”

“Humor me.” His hands slid from her shoulder to the baby in her arms, leaving a trail of warmth behind as he gently eased the baby boy out of her grip.

She sighed, her hands following the baby until he was safe in Nick’s arms. Her hand lingered on his blanket swaddled belly, softly rubbing it as he started to fuss again. “You got to quiet down now, little one. Otherwise Gibbs is going to come and lecture us,” she whispered.

Nick chuckled. “Better listen to the lady, buddy. Gibbs can be quite scary.”

Ellie looked up, meeting Nick’s eyes. She instantly stepped closer to him, drawn to him like a magnet. She lost herself in his brown eyes that were gazing at her so softly and openly. It wasn’t the first time, they had one of these moments as she liked to call them, but this one felt more vulnerable than all the other’s combined. Nick was letting her see his emotional side, letting her in on his feelings. In these moments, she forgot about her fears of crossing the carefully drawn line between them, because her partner made her feel completely safe and cared for and that was something she longed to feel for a long time now.

Both of them were so focused on each other that they didn’t notice that the little guy actually started to quiet down again until they were pulled out of their trance by a little sneeze coming from the baby in Nick’s arms.

“Well, I should probably lay down and try to catch some more sleep,” Ellie mumbled, still not moving away from her partner and the baby. “He’s gonna wake us up again in a few hours, no doubt about that.”

“And we still need to find his parents. Can’t do that when we’re sleep deprived,” Nick added, his gaze never leaving her.

Ellie just nodded, laying a hand on the baby’s head, before pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his hat covered head. “Sleep tight, little guy. Don’t keep Nick up to late.” As she retreated, her hand brushed against her partner’s bicep, moving down to his elbow, before leaving the warmth of his body. She definitely touched him on purpose this time, her brain on fire and not willing to let the intimacy between them end.

Without looking at Nick again, she walked over to the couch, sitting down on it. Grabbing one of the pillows, she flattened it at the end of the couch, before laying down and moving the blanket around her shoulders over her body. A surge of tiredness ran through her and she had to yawn. Rubbing her eyes with one hand, she rested the other under her cheek, risking one more glance at her partner.

He was still standing by the fire, swaying from side to side, the baby quietly laying in his arms. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to the baby’s head, just like she had a few moments ago, but instead of pulling back, he rested his forehead there, softly humming a tune, she wasn’t familiar with.

Ellie felt a smile tug at her lips and her eyes closing at the sight in front of her. Sleep was pulling her under quickly as she listened to Nick’s humming and the crackling of the fire a few feet away.

Not much later, she felt the couch dip next to her as Nick laid down on the other arm of the couch. She wasn’t fully awake, just enough to register his scent close to her. A few seconds later, his hand found its way to the side of her head where Vicious’ bullet had almost hit her a few hours ago. His fingers gently carded through her hair, pulling a few strands behind her ear.

Suddenly, she felt wide awake again, and she fought hard to control her breathing and stay completely still. His touch was affecting her in ways she wasn’t prepared to feel, and for the first time she let herself fully realize that there was something more between them. Something they both felt and needed to acknowledge at some point.

As his thumb moved tenderly over her cheek, she heard him shift beside her and a second later, the softness of his lips pressed a kiss against her forehead, lingering there for a second. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt like she was going to combust any second, but then he retreated back. His lips leaving her forehead and his hand leaving her head.

She felt him lay down fully beside her, his head coming to rest on the pillow next to hers, not too far away. She also felt his arm stretch out beside her, his hand almost touching her knees that she had pulled up to her body. He stayed close and she could still feel the warmth that radiated from his body.

It calmed her racing heart and she started to monitor his breathing, waiting until it slowed down, evening out as he drifted off into the dreamland. Without thinking too much, she let her arm fall down onto his that was stretched along her torso. Her hand came to rest on his biceps, and she curled her fingers around it, holding onto him, just as she felt his own hand grab onto her biceps, his fingers almost curling all the way around it, his touch warm.

There was no change in his breathing, but deep down she knew that he was still awake, just like she was. She didn’t dare to open her eyes, afraid to find him staring at her.

His feelings for her ran deep, maybe even deeper than her own and he seemed to have accepted them, not pushing them away like she so cowardly did. His patience though, was something that threw her off completely. Maybe he sensed her hesitation and fear, because even though he made sure to drop hints, he never made a move to push her further, giving her the time she needed. The ball was in her court which scared her a bit, but deep down she knew that when the time came, their transition from friends to more was going to be easy.

Falling asleep was easier than she thought it would be after the day she had. Nick’s touch grounded her and she forgot the horrors of the day as she drifted off into the dreamworld herself, dreaming of her partner and a little blonde girl that looked like a mix of both of them.

The baby hadn’t woken them up again that night, but Ellie woke up as Jack opened the front door, letting herself in early in the morning. She didn’t dare to open her eyes, but she eased her grip on Nick’s biceps and she also felt his grip on her arm loosen. She almost felt sad, but as she lifted her arm away from his, she felt one last caress from his thumb, and it calmed her, reassuring her that they had the same goal for the future.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Leave some kudos!  
> Be on the lookout for some more stories in the next few weeks. You can also find me on tumblr (nickandellie).
> 
> Also thanks to my beta reader Shaquille_oatmeal726. Check out her stories too. She's a great writer! :)


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